how to heal a blistered nipple?

[youngnhappymamma]

My baby (#3 and almost 11 months) has just recently uped her nursing sessions a ton due to sleeping difficulties and I don't know if her latch has gotten lazy or what but since she started nursing so much I have had major nipple pain and in one nipple I cracked and bled. So I put lanisho stuff on it and it seemed to get a little better but today it is worse again (more painful) and I just noticed two clear blisters on it. OUCH!!!! So now what do I do? And how do I correct her latch if that is the reason I am having such sore nipples?

(I don't have any yeast symptoms, neither does baby)

[youngnhappymamma]

another problem I'll throw at all you bright ladies is that she likes to chomp down with her teeth right at latch on and then right as she's letting go of the nipple when she's done........which hurts!! But it doesn't hurt as bad as the blister. And just some more info...the blister is toward the top of the nipple and that part is usually protruding more when she's done nursing....like maybe she is not sucking on the nipple evenly and putting too much pressure on that part? Is the nipple supposed to be flush with itself when nursing is done? Because is seems to me that with my last baby I had major nipple pain starting about this age that never really let up until he weaned at 19 months and the top of the nipples always protruded more than the bottom......

[yoga]

Sorry you're going thru this!

Try to re-latch her whenever she gets on improperly. Personally, at 11 months (and I have one right now), I have no problem denying milkies if the baby won't nurse properly or pinches me all the time. I think an 11-month-old understands a lot.

About the blisters: put a warm, wet rag to your nipples right before nursing. As soon as you take the rag off (when it starts getting cool or after about 10 seconds or so), latch the baby on. This will help the blisters pop. Do this every time you nurse and the blisters should be gone in a couple of days.

Try putting vitamin E on your nipples for the cracking and bleeding. It really helps heal them quickly. I'd put some on after every nursing. Just pop open a capsule or whatever and rub the oil on your nipples.

HTH!

editted to add: my nipples also protrude more at the top than bottom. I've not noticed a corelation btn. that and pain, tho.

[DaryLLL]

My theory--teething! In particular, molars. This could be causing the incorrect latch. She isn't getting enough breast tissue into her mouth, perhaps b/c the back part of her mouth is so sore. (This will also cause the poor sleeping.) The nipple is then pressing up against her hard palate, instead of being free at the back of her mouth. Causing the compression/misshapeness.

Perhaps if you could help her with the pain she would latch better. Some moms give Motrin. Another way to go would be to offer a cold wet or frozen washcloth before, during, or after a feed. Much nicer to clamp her sore gums down on that than on your boob!

Chaka is right on with the idea of a hot wet cloth to open the blisters (blebs). they are plugged ducts at the surface of the nipple.

[youngnhappymamma]

thank you for your support and suggestions. I will try the warm wash cloth thing....the blister is even bigger today!!!! AGH!!
She is in the process of getting her second eye tooth and I'm sure her first molars aren't far behind, so you are probably right. It's just weird because with her first five teeth she cut them with no problems at all. I will try and give her some motrin for a day and see if it helps. She is sleeping poorly because in the last month she was ready to give up her baby hammock that she has taken naps in since she was a newborn and transistion to napping in a pack and play instead. (she sleeps with us at night) She was done sleeping in the baby hammock and was too big for it but she doesn't like the pack and play very much. In the baby hammock we would bounce her to sleep in it and since the pack and play doesn't bounce she has started nursing to sleep and waking up in teh middle of a nap to nurse back to sleep so she has been nursing almost twice as much as she was before. Anyway, thanks again and I will try teh suggestions.

[zacsmama]

i had a horrible injured nipple right after dd was born, it was so bad that i couldn't really tolerate her on it at all, and opted to pump on that one until it healed enough, after suffering a nasty mastitis with killer chills, etc. it only took about 2 days to heal enough to let her back on that one. a bit of a severe approach, but mine was so injured i really had to let it heal.

[youngnhappymamma]

My baby was really sick with a nasty cold yesterday that we all have and hardly nursed at all so gave me a little time to heal and the blister is now a scab but yesterday it started hurting worse than ever and I had shooting pains through my breast even while not nursing and my baby had a rash so I figured it was yeast too and started taking a probiotic and it seems much better today....no more shooting pains through my breast like yesterday. So that is good, but the scab is still there. And it is still painful to nurse. She is nursing full steam today and last night, which is really good for her and I am relieved except when it is time to nurse on the painful side!!! but I am still happy to nurse her on that side as well. So how long with the scab last and is there any way to hurry it's departure? After I took a shower yesterday I tried to pull on it to see if it would come off and OUCH!!!! That was not a good idea! I'm just worried it is goign to cause mastitis next..........

[yoga]

I don't remember about scabs. But, the more you nurse, the faster it'll heal. So, keep at it, mama! I know it hurts, but soon...pain-free nursing! I remember I had to take Tylenol before I nursed it hurt so badly.

[youngnhappymamma]

thanks for the encouragement...that will be my mantra....soon painfree nursing!!!!!
And tylenol is a great idea.....it still is major pain to nurse her on that side. So I've been inadvertanly avoiding nursing her on that side very often and I am probably going to make myself lop-sided!!! So nursing more often will help it to heal faster? What about the theory that nursing on that side impeads healing?

[yoga]

No way! Where did you hear that the more you nurse on that side, the slower it heals? It's the exact opposite. If you don't nurse enough, it will get worse. The suckling helps to open the blister and suck all the "stuff" out. (like my technical terms?) You have a plugged duct (if I remember correctly), and you need to unplug it. The only way to do that is to nurse, nurse, nurse.

If a plugged duct remains plugged, you will get mastitis and you don't want all the problems that will bring.

Nurse, mama!

[youngnhappymamma]

Okay.....an update......(I'm sure everyone is interested in teh state and health of my nipple) It still has a scab but it no longer hurts that much to nurse. So everything is great. Thank you again for your replies and support.

[yoga]

I'm glad things are better for you! Yay!

I have to say, the scab has me concerned. I just asked dh if he remembered me having a scab and he said no. It scabbed once, and I picked it off, I remember that. But, it didn't have a scab on it for days, like yours. My blister just seemed to get bigger until it opened and finally healed completely.

I think you should either have a doctor check out the scab or pick it off so the blister can completely heal. That's really worrying me.

[youngnhappymamma]

worrying you becuase it is cutting off oxygen and stuff to those milk ducts and because maybe milk isn't coming from those ducts because of it? I tried to pick it off the other day in the shower but PAIN!!! Maybe I'll express some milk and watch to see if any milk can come out from behind it. Thanks for your concern.

[yoga]

It's worrying me b/c that didn't happen to me, that's all.

I'd never had a blister before the nipple blister, so I don't know if scabbing over is a normal blister activity.

I don't mean to worry you. Good luck!